Sharp County record., 1887-12-29

South, J01n w eSley, UeoISe Nullenelu,
Jeremy Taylor, Rowland Hill, Nettleton,
George G. Finney, and all the men of the
mast who greatly advanced the Kingdom
of God, consecrated their wit and their
bumor to the cause of Christ. So it has
been in all the ages, and Isay to these
voung theological students who custer in
these services Sabbath after Sabbath,
sharpen your wits as keen as cimeters,
and then talse them into this holy war;
It is a very short bridge between smile
and tear, suspension bridge from eye
to lip, and it is soon crossed over, and
smile is sometimes just as sacred as a
tear. There is as much religion, and l
think little more, in spring morning
than in a starless midnight. Religious
work without any humor or wit in it is
tanouet with a side of beef, and that
raw, and no condiments, and no dessert
succeeding. People will not sit down at
such banquet. By all means remove all
friyolity and all bathos and all lightness
and all ulgarity-strain them out
through the sieve of holy discrimination;
but, on the other hand, beware of
that monster which over-Shadows
the Christian Church to-day, con-
ventionality, coming up from the great
Sahara desert Of Ecclesiastcism, having
ON its back a hump of sanctimonious
gloom, and vehemently refuse to swallow
that camel.
Oh, how particular great many people
are about the infnitesimals while they are
unite reckless about the magnitudes.
What did Christ say? Did he not excoriate
the people in his time who were so care
ful to wash their hands before a meal, but
did not wash their hearts? 1t is bad
thing to have unclean hands; it is a worse
thing to have an unclean heart. How
many people there are in our time who
are very anxious that after their death
they shall be buried with their feet toward
the East, and not at all anxious that dur
inp their whole life they should face in
the right direction, so that they shall
come ND in the resurrection of the just
whichever way they are buried. How
manv there are chiefly anxious that
minister of the Gospel shall come in the
line of apostolic succession, not caring so
much whether he comes from Apostle Paul
or APOSTLE Judas. They have way of
measuring a gnat until it is larger than a
camel.
Again: My subject photographs all
those who are abhorrent of small sins
while they are reckless in regard to mag
nificent thefts. You will find many a
merchant who, while he is so careful
that he would not take yard of cloth or
spool of cotton from the counter with
ont paving for it, and who, if bank
cashier should make q mistake and send
in q roll of bills five dollars too much,
would dispatch messenger in hot haste
10 return the surplus, yet who VIII go In
80 stock company in which, after
awhile, ,'he, gets control Of the stock, ana
then waters the stock and makes one nun
dred thousand dollars appear ike TWO
hundred thousand dollars. He only stole
one hundred thousand dollars by the
operation. Many of the men of fortune
made their wealth in that way. One OF
those men, engaged in such unrighteous
acts that evening, the evening OF the
very day when he watered the stock,
will find a wharf rat stealing news
paper from the basement doorway, ana
will 90 out and catch the urchin
by the collar, and twist the col
lar so tightly the poor fellow can
not say that it was thirst lor
knowledge that led hiul to the dishonest
act, but grip the collar tighter and tighter
saving, 81 have been looking for you
long whle you stole my paper iour OF
five times, haven't you, you mlseraDle
wretch?" And then the old stock gambler
with voice they can hear three blocKs'
will cry out, "Police, police" Ihat same
man, the evening of the day in which ne
watered the stock, will kneel with MS
family in prayers and thank God Tor tne
prosperity of the day, then kiss his chil'
dren good night with an air which seems
, to say: 81 hope you will all grow up 10 DO
as GOOD as your father" Prisons for SINS
insectile in size, but palaces for crimes
dromedarian. No mercy for sins anlnal-
cule in proportion, but great leniency lol
mastodon iniquity. A poor boy slyIy
takes from the basket Of market woman
a choke pear-saving some one else lrUn'
the cholera-and you smother MN III 'ho
horrible atmosphere of Raymond oeree'
iail or New York Tombs, while his couslh'
who has been skillful enough to steal SoV,'
600 from the city, you will make nun
candidate for the New York LeglSl"-
ture! :,
There is a great deal Of uneasness anu
nervousness now among some peopio ~
our time who have Cotton unrighteouo
fortunes-a great deal of nervouSno',S
about dynamite. I tell them thaV oou
will put under their unrighteous fortunes
something more explosive than dynah.'0
the earthquake of his omnlpotenO IN
dignation. 1t is time that we learn III
America that sin is not excusable IN pro,
portion as it declares large DIVIDENDS anu
has outriders in equipage. Many maj
is riding to perdton, position aheuu %"
lackey behind. To steal one copy ~
newspaper is gnat; to steal many UnUu
sands of dollars is a camel. There Is inato
a fruit dealer who would not conssh. w
steal basket of peaches from a n1ien
| bars stall, but who would not scrup'o W
depress the fruit market; and as long 20
can remember we have heard e'0iy
summer "the peach crop w.
| Maryland is failure, 'nu
the time the crop comes in the miSreplo ,ioos
| sentation makes O. difference OIL nlni,oI .ooI
of dollars. A man who would NOV sd osU',
one peach basket steals fifty tnouo"n
III lo,,.o+, 20 down in the Sulnul0'